A requirement for many food processors is to understand the levels of acrylamide in their products and to reduce those levels if possible. Acrylamide is a process contaminant that forms in starchy foods when they are baked, roasted, or fried. A reaction between an amino acid and reducing sugars, known as a Maillard reaction, is…
As the demand for lactose-free and lactose-reduced products increases, we discuss the use of LC and LC-MS to test the level of lactose in products.
The food and feed industries quest to balance quality and safety assurance with economy and efficiency has always posed challenges, but in the context of an increasingly globalized food supply, rising concern about foodborne illness, the need for mycotoxin test methods that help companies do more with less has taken on a new urgency. Whether…
Driven by the global COVID-19 pandemic, consumers increasingly seek food and beverages that support immunity and health. As a result, the global functional beverages market is expected to grow to $158 billion in 2023. Waters HPLC and UPLC solutions enable reliable, accurate, and efficient testing methods to ensure that finished beverage products meet manufacturers’ specifications and nutritional label claims.
While the hyphenation of chromatographic and mass spectrometry technologies has revolutionized food contaminant testing laboratories, one major drawback is the potential for the phenomenon of matrix effects. Due to unwanted interactions between the analytes and sample matrix, the analyte’s response may be reduced or amplified. The influence of matrix on the reliability of your method…
We discuss analytical options using LC and GC with MS/MS to detect the pesticide fipronil in eggs for food safety testing.
For decades, food security was viewed exclusively through the lens of shortages. In the 1960s, when daily food availability in emerging countries was just 1,850 kcal per person as many as half of the world’s population was malnourished. It’s easy to understand our narrow focus on increasing food production. The challenges we face have shifted….
There is a rightfully high expectation from consumers that the amounts of compounds and ingredients that producers report in their goods are accurate down to trace levels. Whether personally or professionally, we all rely on this analytical information coming from laboratories that enables critical decisions to be made. Analytical chemists have been performing quantitative studies…
Interest in ion mobility mass spectrometry (IMS) technology is growing rapidly. The signs are everywhere. Since the year 2000, the number of abstracts submitted to ASMS mentioning ion mobility has grown more than 10-fold – from 30 to more than 350 in 2015. For most of that time, ion mobility has been available commercially in…
Tea is very important to them! If Waters Wilmslow ran out of tea it is likely the MS Research Team would struggle to function. The ancient Chinese Ruler, Emperor Jing Di, took tea to the grave with him for a cuppa in the afterlife. Many treasures were found in his tomb including; food, weapons, ceramic animals,…
Global trading of herbs and spices can be traced back for thousands of years. Historically they were considered a rare and precious commodity, but methods to determine their authenticity were only very basic, creating a compelling incentive to substitute with lower-value products with a low risk of the adulteration being discovered. This is clearly not…
There is increased concern regarding the authenticity of basmati rice throughout the world. For years, traders have been passing off a lesser quality rice as the world’s finest long-grained, aromatic rice, basmati, in key markets like the US, Canada and the EU. A proof of principle method has been established to assess the authenticity of basmati…